Thursday 3 February 2011

Challenges for China in the Year of the Rabbi

The lunar new year couldn't have begun on a more edgy note for China's rulers, who have been quick to add 'Cairo' and 'Egypt' to their list of banned words on the Internet. Haunted by the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, China's leaders are watching the rise of people's power against some Arab dictatorships.

If Egyptians could rise up, despite enjoying a per-capita income three times higher than the Chinese, China risks the same contagion.

China actually lived up to the Year of the Tiger that 2010 represented in its astrology by roaring at its neighbours and picking territorial fights with them. In the Year of the Rabbit, which started on Thursday, will China emulate that burrowing animal? Will it mean more tunnels being burrowed in the Himalayas for river diversion and other strategic projects? And 'carrots', a rabbit's favourite, being demanded from neighbours and the rest of the world for eschewing irascible behaviour?

If the Chinese leadership were forward-looking, it would utilise the Year of the Rabbit to loosen its political reign and make up for the diplomatic imprudence of 2010 that left an isolated China counting only the problems states of North Korea, Pakistan and Myanmar as its allies. Read More

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